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Guest
Column: State Sen. Tom O'Mara

"Shopping left to do? Remember
shopping small"

ALBANY, Dec. 9 -- Many of us have now pushed through the
hustle and bustle of so-called Black Friday, which actually began on Thanksgiving
Thursday in many outlets this year, and we’ve clicked our way through
the Cyber Monday deals. But if you’re anything like me-- and I know
a lot of you are because I see you out there every holiday shopping season
-- there’s still plenty of gift-buying left to do.

In fact, the last few weeks before Christmas are among the heaviest
shopping days of all. A National Retail Federation survey a few years
ago found that as of mid-December, the average consumer had only completed
about 47% of their holiday gift-buying. That same survey reported that
about 42 million American consumers, about 20%, had not even started shopping
yet. And, yes, there was even one survey by the International Council
of Shopping showing that more than 23 million consumers planned to shop
on Christmas Eve.

While
so much of today’s holiday shopping is done online, the closer we
get to Christmas we also recognize that the preponderance of late season
buying shifts to “brick-and-mortar retail.” And that can be
good news for local businesses because fortunately, for many of us, there’s
usually a store right down the street or a shop right around the corner
from home that turns out to be the best destination of all to find that
perfect (and meaningful) gift.

So here’s hoping that we’ll do our best to support these
small businesses on Main Street, Market Street, Water Street or wherever
they happen to be found in your own community.

We hear it all the time, especially in government where we debate constantly
about how best to create jobs and strengthen local economies: small businesses
are the backbone of the economy. There’s no question that Albany
and Washington can take steps to help improve the climate for our small
businesses. Just this past legislative session in New York, for example,
the state Senate approved a “New Jobs-NY” plan I cosponsored
that included a series of tax breaks and credits aimed at small business
development. We’ll be taking that plan up again when the new session
begins in January.

But one strategy that can really keep making a difference was highlighted
again this holiday season through a nationwide event on November 24th
called Small Business Saturday. It’s all about consumer choice.

Here’s how the head of the federal Small Business Administration
(SBA) defined the idea of “shopping small” as a guide worth
remembering throughout the holiday shopping season: “Small businesses
are the backbone of our economy and the fabric of our communities. By
shopping small…we can support the men and women who are building
these amazing small businesses. It’s a chance to say thank you to
the small business owners who do so much for our communities.”

These small businessmen and women – in many instances, in fact,
small business families – play such a fundamental role in local
job creation and preservation, to say nothing of economic opportunity
and hope here at home and, collectively, all across the nation.

The SBA notes that over the past 20 years small businesses have been
responsible for creating two out of every three net new jobs nationally.
More than one-half of all of America’s working men and women, according
to federal statistics, own or are employed by a small business.

It’s also worth recalling these words from Mike Durant, the director
of New York’s leading small business association, the National Federation
of Independent Business/NY: “It’s about the entrepreneurs
and families who have put everything into stores that offer what the chains
and e-commerce companies don’t – something different, something
special, from handcrafted gifts to genuinely friendly service…When
you shop at a small business, you’re supporting your hometown, your
neighborhood and your neighbors. We can’t have a strong economy
unless our small businesses are doing well.”

Well said, and right on the money.

So as we head out the door to finish up this year’s shopping,
there’s nothing stopping us from setting aside at least one stop
along the way to support a local small business somewhere across the
Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions.